Santa Ana City Councilman Ted Moreno went down fighting, as you'd expect of this cocky and bullheaded politician. He also went down virtually alone, with no organized support from the community he claimed to champion during his two controversial terms. Moreno's conviction on corruption charges this week derails the career of an ambitious man who pushed hard--way too hard--for more Latino representation in Santa Ana. Yet the news of his demise caused scarcely a ripple in Latino power circles.

People in Santa Ana expressed a mix of sadness and differing degrees of condemnation Tuesday for Ted R. Moreno, the youngest councilman in city history who went from promising populist to convicted felon in two tumultuous terms. "I'm really disappointed," said Mario Valencia, a high school friend of Moreno's who contributed money to the councilman's legal defense fund earlier this year. "I am just shocked. All in all, he was a great guy. I didn't want to believe the charges."

A federal jury Tuesday convicted Santa Ana Councilman Ted R. Moreno on 25 counts of extortion, money laundering and mail fraud stemming from an elaborate scheme to win majority control on the City Council. The conviction caps a four-year FBI investigation in which Moreno accepted cash from a gas station owner with the promise of helping him secure a beer and wine license. Moreno used the money in an unsuccessful attempt to elect several political allies to the council.

A federal jury on Tuesday convicted Santa Ana Councilman Ted R. Moreno on 25 counts of extortion, money laundering and mail fraud stemming from an elaborate scheme to win majority control on the City Council. The conviction caps a four-year case in which Moreno, 33, accepted cash from a gas station owner with the promise of helping him secure a beer and wine li cense; Moreno used the money in an unsuccessful attempt to elect several political allies to the council.

Four years after he accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from an FBI informant, Santa Ana City Councilman Ted R. Moreno's political corruption trial opened Thursday with two vastly different explanations for what happened. Assistant U.S. Atty. John Hueston described Moreno as a power-hungry politician who offered to approve a gas station's beer and wine permit in exchange for $31,000 in political contributions.

Four years after he accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from an FBI informant, Santa Ana City Councilman Ted Moreno's political corruption trial opened Thursday with two vastly different explanations for what happened. Assistant U.S. Atty. John Hueston described Moreno, 33, as a power-hungry politician who offered to approve a gas station's beer and wine permit in exchange for $31,000 in political contributions.

Santa Ana City Councilman Ted R. Moreno rejected early offers of cash from a businessman cooperating with the FBI before relenting under increasing pressure, his attorney told a judge Friday. By the time Moreno took the cash--in transactions videotaped by the FBI--the federal investigation had risen to the level of entrapment, lawyer Dean Steward said at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. U.S. District Judge Gary L.

Santa Ana City Councilman Ted R. Moreno will fight political corruption charges by alleging he was entrapped by the FBI, his attorney disclosed for the first time Wednesday. For two years, Moreno has strongly denied allegations that he extorted thousands of dollars from business owners with issues pending before the City Council. But according to interviews and court papers, Moreno plans to center his legal defense on whether the FBI crossed the line in its two-year corruption probe.

Former Santa Ana Councilman Tony Espinoza has pleaded guilty to a felony count of lying to federal investigators in connection with a public corruption case, a judge revealed Monday. The plea, entered Wednesday at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, came two weeks before Espinoza and former Councilman Ted Moreno were to stand trial on charges of participating in a 1996 scheme to extort campaign money from local businessmen.

In a devastating blow to Santa Ana City Councilman Ted Moreno's political aspirations, the city attorney ruled Friday that Moreno cannot circumvent term limits by resigning before the end of his second term to seek reelection. Citing case law that calls the concept "absurd," City Atty.